Theme: Science is can not be the explanation for everything.
Throughout this section, there are conflicts between science and the supernatural.In chapter 14, Van Helsing encounters the Westminster Gazette, and learns about the strange disappearance of boys in Hampstead. He finds a connection between the strange disappearances and Lucy's death by observing similarities between the small puncture marks on the throat of Lucy and the boys'. It can be implied from the way Van Helsing talks to Dr. Seward that Van Helsing suspects Lucy has transformed into a vampire, and tells his belief candidly to Dr. Seward later in chapter 14: "They were made by Miss Lucy!" (Stoker 173). However, Dr. Seward has a hard time believing that Lucy has resurrected from her death and tries to explain the disappearances in a rational way. Even after when Dr. Seward sees that the body of Lucy is missing from her coffin, he claims: "a body-snatcher....Some of the undertaker's people may have stolen it." (Stoker 176). He constantly denies to admit that Lucy arose from the dead, and believes that Van Helsing has gone mad. Dr. Seward tries to seek "rational explanation of all these mysterious things." (Stoker 181), but after seeing Lucy kidnap a child, he begins to believe in the supernatural explanations that Van Helsing proposes. From this, it can be said that supernatural explanations prevailed over scientific and rational explanations. This further substantiates the theme that science can not be the explanation for everything that occurs, and in some occasions, supernatural explanations can make more sense than the rational ideas.
Critical Passage
"The sweetness was turned to adamantine, heartless cruelty, and the purity to voluptuous wantonness. Lucy's face we could see that the lips were crimson with fresh blood, and that the stream had trickled over her chin and stained the purity of her lawn death-robe. She drew back with an angry snarl, such as a cat gives when taken unawares; then her eyes ranged over us. Lucy's eyes in form and colour; but Lucy's eyes unclean and full of hell-fire, instead of the pure, gentle orbs we knew." (Stoker 187-188)
This passage is significant because it describes the transformation that occurred in Lucy. This is the first description of Lucy as a vampire, and marks the metamorphosis of Lucy into an evil vampire. No longer can we see the sweet, pure Lucy that we knew of, but a seductive vampire. The characteristics that describe the vampire Lucy contradict many of the characteristics that resemble a noble woman in Victorian England. She has turned into an aggressive character that people from that time period do not consider as noble. This further shows that the vampire Lucy is not pure and thus must be killed before more harm is done to others. The crimson lips that she has also represents the longing that Lucy has for voluptuous desires, along with the seductive voice she has that lures the men.
Literary Device
1. Personification
"But King Laugh he come like the sunshine, and he ease off the strain again; and we bear to go on with out labour, what it may be."
Stoker uses personification to show the irony in Lucy's death. Van Helsing personifies "laugh" and this implies that Lucy is not dead is has resurrected from her death, becoming the Undead. It also explains why Van Helsing was acting and laughing in a hysterical way.
2. Simile
"Ah, we men and women are like ropes drawn tight with strain that pull us different ways. Then tears come; and, like the rain on the ropes, they race us up, until perhaps the strain become too great, and we break."
Stoker uses simile in this section to make the irony of Lucy's death more dramatic. This simile established the affect of laugh on a person that is depressed as the sentence describes.
Questions:
Factual Questions:
1. What new abilities of vampires (Undead) do we learn about?
2. Find evidence from the text supporting Van Helsing's conclusion that Lucy is the "bloofer lady." Interpretive Questions:
1. What is Van Helsing trying to establish to Seward by asking rhetorical questions in chapter 13?
2. Why do you think Lucy’s hair color changed?
3. Do you think Lucy has a lighter crime than Dracula since her transformation into a vampire was when she was unconscious?
4. Why does Dracula become young all of a sudden? What is a possible explanation for this physical change? Evaluative Questions:
1. Why do you think Stoker described how beautiful Lucy was in previous sections?
2. How is Mina different from the typical woman in Victorian England?
3. What are some characteristics of the vampire Lucy that contradicts the characteristics of a typical woman in Victorian England? Other Questions:
1. What can be inferred by Van Helsing saying "Mein Gott" when he reads the Westminster Gazette? Connect to Lucy's death.
2. What does Lucy's transformation imply?
Reflection
After your presentation, reflect on what you learned, the pros and cons of the activity, and what you could do to improve in the future. (Write about a paragraph and post it to your block wiki page.)
After the presentation, I learned about the conflict between the supernatural versus science. After the discussion, I became to realize that science was not the only way to interpret things and a supernatural way of thinking can explain things better sometimes. I think that the pros of our activity was that students could actually get involved in the way the characters of the novel thought and felt. So, it would be easier to understand the emotions and the situation that they were in. The cons of the activity was that the discussion was not that smooth since the students couldn't get involved in the character that much. Also, the discussion didn't flow that smoothly and there were silent moments where the students didn't talk. In the future, I could make the activity more interesting by creating questions that are argumentative and question that can be discussed extensively.
Theme: Science is can not be the explanation for everything.
Throughout this section, there are conflicts between science and the supernatural.In chapter 14, Van Helsing encounters the Westminster Gazette, and learns about the strange disappearance of boys in Hampstead. He finds a connection between the strange disappearances and Lucy's death by observing similarities between the small puncture marks on the throat of Lucy and the boys'. It can be implied from the way Van Helsing talks to Dr. Seward that Van Helsing suspects Lucy has transformed into a vampire, and tells his belief candidly to Dr. Seward later in chapter 14: "They were made by Miss Lucy!" (Stoker 173). However, Dr. Seward has a hard time believing that Lucy has resurrected from her death and tries to explain the disappearances in a rational way. Even after when Dr. Seward sees that the body of Lucy is missing from her coffin, he claims: "a body-snatcher....Some of the undertaker's people may have stolen it." (Stoker 176). He constantly denies to admit that Lucy arose from the dead, and believes that Van Helsing has gone mad. Dr. Seward tries to seek "rational explanation of all these mysterious things." (Stoker 181), but after seeing Lucy kidnap a child, he begins to believe in the supernatural explanations that Van Helsing proposes. From this, it can be said that supernatural explanations prevailed over scientific and rational explanations. This further substantiates the theme that science can not be the explanation for everything that occurs, and in some occasions, supernatural explanations can make more sense than the rational ideas.Critical Passage
"The sweetness was turned to adamantine, heartless cruelty, and the purity to voluptuous wantonness. Lucy's face we could see that the lips were crimson with fresh blood, and that the stream had trickled over her chin and stained the purity of her lawn death-robe. She drew back with an angry snarl, such as a cat gives when taken unawares; then her eyes ranged over us. Lucy's eyes in form and colour; but Lucy's eyes unclean and full of hell-fire, instead of the pure, gentle orbs we knew." (Stoker 187-188)This passage is significant because it describes the transformation that occurred in Lucy. This is the first description of Lucy as a vampire, and marks the metamorphosis of Lucy into an evil vampire. No longer can we see the sweet, pure Lucy that we knew of, but a seductive vampire. The characteristics that describe the vampire Lucy contradict many of the characteristics that resemble a noble woman in Victorian England. She has turned into an aggressive character that people from that time period do not consider as noble. This further shows that the vampire Lucy is not pure and thus must be killed before more harm is done to others. The crimson lips that she has also represents the longing that Lucy has for voluptuous desires, along with the seductive voice she has that lures the men.
Literary Device
1. Personification"But King Laugh he come like the sunshine, and he ease off the strain again; and we bear to go on with out labour, what it may be."
Stoker uses personification to show the irony in Lucy's death. Van Helsing personifies "laugh" and this implies that Lucy is not dead is has resurrected from her death, becoming the Undead. It also explains why Van Helsing was acting and laughing in a hysterical way.
2. Simile
"Ah, we men and women are like ropes drawn tight with strain that pull us different ways. Then tears come; and, like the rain on the ropes, they race us up, until perhaps the strain become too great, and we break."
Stoker uses simile in this section to make the irony of Lucy's death more dramatic. This simile established the affect of laugh on a person that is depressed as the sentence describes.
Questions:
Factual Questions:1. What new abilities of vampires (Undead) do we learn about?
2. Find evidence from the text supporting Van Helsing's conclusion that Lucy is the "bloofer lady."
Interpretive Questions:
1. What is Van Helsing trying to establish to Seward by asking rhetorical questions in chapter 13?
2. Why do you think Lucy’s hair color changed?
3. Do you think Lucy has a lighter crime than Dracula since her transformation into a vampire was when she was unconscious?
4. Why does Dracula become young all of a sudden? What is a possible explanation for this physical change?
Evaluative Questions:
1. Why do you think Stoker described how beautiful Lucy was in previous sections?
2. How is Mina different from the typical woman in Victorian England?
3. What are some characteristics of the vampire Lucy that contradicts the characteristics of a typical woman in Victorian England?
Other Questions:
1. What can be inferred by Van Helsing saying "Mein Gott" when he reads the Westminster Gazette? Connect to Lucy's death.
2. What does Lucy's transformation imply?
Reflection
After your presentation, reflect on what you learned, the pros and cons of the activity, and what you could do to improve in the future. (Write about a paragraph and post it to your block wiki page.)After the presentation, I learned about the conflict between the supernatural versus science. After the discussion, I became to realize that science was not the only way to interpret things and a supernatural way of thinking can explain things better sometimes. I think that the pros of our activity was that students could actually get involved in the way the characters of the novel thought and felt. So, it would be easier to understand the emotions and the situation that they were in. The cons of the activity was that the discussion was not that smooth since the students couldn't get involved in the character that much. Also, the discussion didn't flow that smoothly and there were silent moments where the students didn't talk. In the future, I could make the activity more interesting by creating questions that are argumentative and question that can be discussed extensively.